A Detective Conan Christmas Carol
by Cloudish
Summary: Mouri 'Scrooge' Kogoro is visited by three very familiar-looking spirits ...and, well, you know the rest. Or do you?
1. Beginning

**A Detective Conan Christmas Carol**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in Detective Conan … wish I did, but I don't. They belong to Gosho Aoyama.**

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"Ow!" exclaimed Conan as he limped through the threshold of the Mouri Detective Agency. Ran hurriedly bustled in after him and handed him his crutches.

"Oh, Conan, please be careful," the concerned teen said as she hovered near his ankle. "We wouldn't want you to be in the hospital again, especially during Christmas!" Ran frowned and shivered at her own words, and then quickly knocked on wood.

"Yes, Ran-neechan," Conan answered, and then made a beeline towards the tree next to the detective's wide desk. "Wow! You guys got an actual western Christmas tree this year!" the seven-year-old exclaimed.

"Yeah, we did." Ran proudly walked over to the pine tree and fingered some of the ornaments she had painstakingly placed among the boughs. "Dad and I figured you might like it since your family seems to like western stuff."

For a moment Conan's face took on a shocked expression, and his 'little boy' mask slipped. Shinichi's eyes shone through the large glasses that he wore, and he stared in sadness at Ran's back. _"Does she know?" _he thought_. "Does she know that I'm not who I seem, and that my parents probably put up a tree like this every Christmas? Is that why she's doing this?"_

"…Seeing as they named you Conan and all," Ran added as she turned around and laughed. "Oh, Mr. Grumpy-pants! What're you so sad about now? You haven't missed Christmas yet, you know!" she said as she mistakenly interpreted Conan's expression.

Upon hearing Ran's first statement, Conan sighed in relief. Then he made a face at the second. "Hey, I'm not grumpy! I just don't like the idea of Uncle Kogoro-"

Conan's sentence was cut off by his sudden take to the air by means of his collar. "What were you going to say about me, huh brat?" Conan smelled alcohol on Kogoro's breath as he dangled from the detective's fist.

"Uh, um…" Conan fished for compliments to give, though the task was almost impossible. Kogoro seemed to sense this, and got even angrier.

"Well, fine!" The tall detective flung Conan to the ground, and even though Ran barely caught the boy, he chortled with disdain as he slouched at the chair behind his desk. His sneer didn't stay for long though, as his daughter suddenly began to attack him.

"Dad!!!" Ran frowned deeply. "How could you treat Conan so badly? He just came back form the hospital, for Pete's sake! He's still hurt, too!"

"Bah," the detective said with disregard. "That's barely a scratch. Why, that boy couldn't even take care of himself without my support!" He stood up and started to gesture wildly. "I provide all the money here, so I should be able to treat him like I want!"

"Dad, do you want to know what that's called?" Ran walked over to Kogoro and grinned at him. "Child abuse. And I love Conan too much for him to be carted away just by your stupid theory!" She slammed a fist on the desk.

"Yeah, and Mommy gives you money too!" Conan cringed at his own words. But his point was made. Kogoro stopped to remember this, realized it was true, and then angrily lurched away, grumbling to himself about money.

"Humph." Ran turned her back on the form of her father and then smiled at Conan. "Oh, Conan, don't worry too much about what Dad says. He's just a big, grouchy miser." She bent down and scooped the small boy up in her arms. "Come on. I'm going to make you a nice, big welcome home dinner!"

The two teenagers -one shrunken- made their way up the stairs to the kitchen. They had a blast for the next few hours. Everything felt perfect, now that everyone was back at home, all together again. Ran and Conan both fell asleep with smiles on their faces, dreaming of the Christmas that would come the next day.


	2. Christmas Past

Later that night, a tall form crept into the office that held the Christmas tree. His smile flashed wickedly as he scuttled noiselessly over to the tall pine near the window. When he finally stood parallel to the tree, the bars of light shining from the lamppost right outside the window showed the familiar rectangular moustache, the thin, long eyebrows, and the little tuft of hair growing above the forehead… of Detective Mouri.

Kogoro bent down and gleefully started to shove the presents that had been placed under the tree with care. Some had been wrapped neatly with the precise hand of Ran, while Conan had wrapped his in a messier technique. (Those presents featured a higher percentage of tape than wrapping paper.) Of course, Kogoro made sure to look at each name tag, and he gently placed the packages with his name on them to the side.

"Ha ha ha!" he cackled to himself. "This will be a little payback for those insolent kids! Why, they'll be begging me to return their gifts. But I'll just say that that little green guy in a Santa suit came by and took them all! Hmm, what was that guy's name again? Girtch? Grilpch? Glinch? Ah, I think it is Glinch. So, I'll just tell them that the Glinch came and stole all the presents. That little punk probably believes in Santa, anyway." Kogoro kept rambling to himself. "And then if they don't believe me, I'll make them pay me… um… 25- no, 50 dollars for them back! That'll show them!" He quietly guffawed over this new prospect as he finished stuffing the last of the gifts into his bag.

Suddenly, as he turned to leave, a bright light appeared in front of him. A small form floated down until it was parallel with Kogoro's face. The man gaped at the form, thinking, _"Is it an angel?!"_ As the light began to diminish, he saw that the form was of a small girl. Wait, it was actually the body of the little girl that lived with Professor Agasa! Ai was her name. Kogoro saw that the light-haired girl was wearing some kind of white, silky robe, and that her eyes were glowing in a weird way as they stared piercingly at him.

The girl's light slowly faded to a small glimmer, and she seemed to hover in place. _"How in the _world_ is she doing that?"_ Kogoro thought in wonder. The little girl stared at him, and then a slight grin slowly spread over her face. She unhurriedly raised her hand until it was pointed at him, palm up. _"Does she want me to take her hand, or something? And just _how_ is she floating like that?!"_ Suddenly she slapped him with the upraised hand.

"That," the angelic Ai said as she lowered her hand, "was for thinking such silly thoughts. It was also for all the wrongs you have done in your life." Her voice was almost singsong. It sounded very different, almost happier, than the normal Ai voice. "For I am the ghost of the Christmas past!"

As the magical Ai stated this, her light suddenly became brighter, and she raised her arms and spun around the room in circles. The bewildered Kogoro just put his head in his hands and wished that he was back in his bed, dreaming.

When the Ghost of Christmas Past finished her whirlwind around the detective agency, she gently put herself parallel to the (now shivering) detective again, and lifted her hand once more. Kogoro cringed, expecting another slap. "Come, you great fool," said the Ai in a slightly impatient voice. "Take my hand."

Kogoro did as he was told, and with a sharp jolt, landed in a strange, blank room. "What-!" the man gasped.

"Cease your speech, old man," said the Ai as she slowly spread her glow around the entirety of the new room, "and glimpse into the past."

A scene unfolded before the Ghost of Christmas Past and Kogoro. Everything, the people and the furniture, in the room had a holographic look to it. Kogoro immediately recognized someone from the past. "Eri!" he gasped.

"Hush, and let them speak," the Ai said. Kogoro then realized that the other person in the room was… himself. Only he was quite a bit younger.

Kogoro stared at the young couple arguing in front of him. He moved his arm vaguely, as if wanting to stop the spat.

"You recognize this scene do you not, old man?" The unearthly Ai looked at him with her glowing eyes. Her voice lowered to a whisper. "For it was a great mistake on your behalf, in the past."

Kogoro looked at the two people in front of him with distress. "This was- this was when…" The great detective fell silent; unable to finish the sentence.

The Ghost of Christmas Past looked at the scene again with pity in her eyes. She finished Kogoro's sentence. "…When you and Eri first decided to separate."

Kogoro's mouth suddenly took on a childish pucker and he turned towards the Ai with a sulk in his step. "Well, she started it."

As he spoke this sentence, the Ai's light became unbearably bright as she flared with anger. "You fool! Do you not even remember how the fight started?! You and your wife were arguing about money! Money, of all things! In your world, it may seem to contribute greatly to affairs, but in the world I am from, it is a simple, disgusting, earthly thing that does not matter or equal to anything! Does money cost more to you than love?!"

Kogoro stood up from where he had fallen as the ghost's light diminished a bit. "I... No, it doesn't." he said shakily.

"I am glad that you know that, at least," the Ai said tartly. "But my job for tonight is not quite over. I must also show you what this conflict over _money_ has brought on in the past."

The holographic scene of the couple's argument suddenly flickered and changed into a different image. "Ran," breathed Kogoro as he stared, entranced by the image of his little girl clutching a teddy bear.

"This is your daughter, age nine," the Ai stated. The holographic image of Ran suddenly started moving, and Kogoro soon realized that she was crying.

"_M-Mommy and d-Daddy are probably n-never gonna g-get back together!"_ she tearfully informed the bear. _"And I-I think it's all my fault!"_ She pulled her face into the stuffed animal as she started sobbing. _"What'll I doooooo?!"_

"And that is not all," said the Ai as the image flickered yet again. "This rift has also caused great trouble to those who also care for your daughter."

The image flickered from the little Ran to the older Ran, though she was still sad. Suddenly, a holographic Shinichi strode in and started to talk to her. It appeared that he was trying to cheer her up. When that didn't work, he just hugged her. Ran pushed him away, though, and Shinichi left looking hurt.

Conan, Sonoko, Kazuha, and even Heiji all walked in as holographs afterwards and did the same thing as Shinichi. They all left with the same expression. Conan's small face dripping tears, though, left Kogoro's heart pained the most. How could he know the little kid felt so bad? Then, as if to make it worse, the Ghost of Christmas Past showed Kogoro all the times his greed, jealousy, drunkenness, ignorance, and many other fixable faults had pained Eri, Ran, and even Conan.

Soon, the scenes stopped, and the white room was left blank, haunted no more by ghostly images. The Ai turned to look at the weeping Kogoro with grief on her face. Her glowing light was dimming. "Come," she whispered to Kogoro, holding her hand out once again.

The next second they were both in the detective agency. Kogoro landed on the floor with a thump. The ghostly Ai started to fade as he set his eyes on her. "No," he groaned. "Don't go."

"I'm afraid I must," the Ai said, a small smile flickering on her face. "After all, I am not the only to visit you this long night…" Her voice drifted on long after her glowing body had disappeared.

"W-what's that supposed to mean?!" Kogoro pounded on the wall where the Ghost of Christmas Past had been last seen. "I don't want more of you!" he complained as he slid to the floor, still facing the wall.

"Well, my boy, I'm afraid that can't be helped!" A hearty voice exclaimed from behind him.

Kogoro turned to look, groaned, and then slapped a hand to his forehead. "Oh no," he muttered. "Not again."


	3. Christmas Present

A big man, looking exactly like Professor Agasa, stood next to the Christmas tree. He was surrounded by the makings of a feast. Kogoro gaped at the oversized man.

"How- What- Why…?" Kogoro looked and sounded like a dying fish. The jolly man laughed at this, strode over to him, and dragged the surprised detective towards a fire next to the tree.

Right after the big man did this, Kogoro regained his voice. "What are you trying to do?! Burn my house down?" He withdrew from the stranger's grasp and stomped over to the fire, uncontained by any ring, pit, or fireplace. He wildly started to trample over it, until he noticed that it burned merrily _right up his calves_. His first thought was that he was on fire; but nothing hurt. It finally dawned on him that the fire was ghostly, and would not hurt him or his house.

Now fully aggravated, he turned his wrath towards the large Professor Agasa. But his fury was dampened when the man threw a large turkey leg and a goblet of drink into his hands.

"Oh, thank you, kind sir!" Kogoro cried to the man. He took a huge bite of the turkey, and then drank a large swig from the goblet. He immediately spit the drink out, though, since he was expecting beer or possibly mead

"What is this?!" Kogoro peered into his drink.

"Why, that's hot cider, of course!" laughed the man.

Kogoro's foul mood returned, and he glared at the man. "Who are you, anyway?"

"I am the Ghost of Christmas Present! But, you can call me Abe." Abe smiled down on Kogoro and then, surprisingly quick, stood up and walked next to the detective.

"Let us do the Conga line!" Abe said cheerily. He started to do an arm roll and he danced away from the dumbfounded Kogoro, but then he looked back and stopped. He sighed.

"Oh, you mortals never wish to do this the fun way. When a spirit shows up, it's all solemn and serious, no festivities allowed!" Abe sighed once again. "Oh well, I guess we'll have to do it the old fashioned way." He stepped near Kogoro and held out a bit of his green robe. "Touch it, my good fellow."

Kogoro did as he was told, but grew very surprised when he discovered they did not magically transport to a strange room. In fact, they were still in his house! They had moved, though, as Kogoro saw that they were traveling down his hall.

"Um, Abe, where are we going?" asked Kogoro.

Abe turned to him and motioned for him to be quiet. "We are going into dreams, my boy," he whispered.

Suddenly they were standing at the foot of Ran's futon, and Kogoro saw a strange sort of light hovering above her head. He was about to ask what it was, when suddenly Abe was pulling him towards it, and they _went into it_.

Once inside 'the dream', as Kogoro now realized that was what it was, Abe told him to let go of his robe and to sit.

"She will come soon," was all the spirit stated.

Kogoro was about to ask who 'she' was, when suddenly he saw Ran walking towards him. "Ran!" he called out to her, but all she did was walk by him.

"She can't see you, you know," Abe whispered.

"Well, then why did you bring me here?" Kogoro asked impatiently.

Ran sat on a chair that was in the dream, and she muttered to herself, "Wow. That was some crazy shopping there… I hope Sonoko never does that again." She looked at the side of the dream, like she had just escaped out of the 'shopping nightmare'. She probably had.

She turned back to herself and then started thinking hard. "Well, speaking of shopping, I hope Dad doesn't get too upset. I know he asked me to make a Christmas feast for tomorrow, but I just can't find enough money to get all the foods he asked for… Oh, what'll I do?" The dreaming Ran looked up at the ceiling of her dream and sighed. "And I have no idea how to pay Conan's hospital bills! If only dad hadn't thrown that book and made Conan fall down the stairs…" She sighed once more.

Suddenly, she seemed to see something in her dream that the other two men didn't, and she waved her hand at it. "Oh, Sonoko, how could I pass you up?" She laughed. "Just please, this time, let's go to a… her sentence was cut off as she exited into another dream, by means of being pulled by a Sonoko that Kogoro couldn't see.

Kogoro looked at the Ghost of Christmas Present, and was about to say something. Suddenly Abe pulled him out of Ran's dream, into another room, and then into yet another dream.

Shaken, Kogoro looked at the strange dream in amazement. Where Ran's dream had been neat, white, and pristine, this dream was almost the opposite. For one thing, there were doors on the wall, though most, strangely, were covered with strong, black tape; as if the dreamer had some secrets that needed to be heavily guarded. There were also many items littering the floor. Some things were little kid toys: balls, videos, little trinkets that only a child would be interested in. Others were more serious; large, dusty tomes, some papers that looked to have valuable information on them, and even a pistol.

Without warning, the dreamer entered. Of course, it was Conan. He looked to be worried, afraid, angry, and weary all at once. He was shouting something that Kogoro could _almost_ hear…

Abruptly, Abe yanked Kogoro and himself out of the dream. His eyes were disturbed for a moment, but then he smiled down on Kogoro and said, "Well, we didn't need to hear those words, anyway. But you can see how distressed the boy has become." He stared at Kogoro with a strange spark in his eye, as if to say "_and you're to blame for it_."

Kogoro didn't meet the spirit's eyes. He muttered, "Well, I am sorry."

The Ghost of Spirit Present suddenly smiled warmly at the sad man in front of him. He grasped him on the shoulder and said, "Have faith, my good man. He shoved another mug of hot cider into Kogoro's hands and then opened the window. "Have faith _and_ hope, Kogoro." Then he heaved himself over the windowsill, and all in one moment, him and the feast around the Christmas tree disappeared.

Kogoro plopped into an easy chair and sighed. "Well, I hope that's the last of them," he said to himself, though without much enthusiasm. "I'm starting to get tired of all these ghosts and spirit visits."


	4. Christmas to Come

As Kogoro sighed, he heard a slow, chilling knock on the door. The detective gulped, and hoped that it was just a crazed client, trying to see if the detective might solve a last minute case. But Kogoro knew it wouldn't be true.

Slowly, he walked towards the threshold, unlatched it, and opened the creaking door.

Kogoro's eyes widened at the man- no, spirit that stood before him.

The stranger was grinning evilly, and smoking a thin cigarette. He had long, silver hair, and he was dressed entirely in black.

Kogoro gulped even harder this time. "Um, the Ghost of Christmas to Come, I presume?" he asked nervously.

The spirit just gave him an 'of course' look, and brushed into the agency. He stood in the middle of the room; staring at Kogoro and making the detective feel very awkward.

"Err, would you care for some-?" Kogoro's question was cut off by the stranger's only uttered word.

"Come," the dark spirit rasped. He then swept amazingly fast through the doorway, down the stairs, and into the night.

"Um, where are we going?" demanded Kogoro nervously as he ran next to the ghostly man. The spirit said nothing.

They soon entered a graveyard.

"_Oh great, the spirit's probably going to show me someone I killed because of my greed and stuff. Or maybe even a victim from my murder cases. But how is that _my_ fault? Will this never end?!"_ Kogoro thought in a huff.

The spirit in black turned to him with accusing eyes and silently pointed to a tombstone. Kogoro strained to see the name carved on it. It was M… Mou… Mouri!

Kogoro stumbled away the grave with a shocked expression on his face. It couldn't be Eri?! Or surely not Ran?!

The spirit once more pointed to the grave.

Kogoro took a tentative step forward and looked again. He peered more closely this time and saw that the tombstone held _his name_!

Kogoro gave a shocked gasp. It couldn't be! He looked once more. Yet, the stone still held his name: Mouri Kogoro.

He looked at the spirit in fear. "Is this to come?! Tell me this isn't to come!" he pleaded.

The spirit nodded his head and held up his hand. In it appeared a beer can.

Kogoro murmured, "Alcohol. That's what killed me?"

The spirit nodded, and then held up his other hand. In it appeared a cigarette.

"That too?" asked Kogoro. The spirit nodded again. Then suddenly, the items disappeared, and the spirit waved and pointed his hand as if to present something. The spooked detective stared in the direction that the spirit pointed, and saw a scene unfold right in the middle of the air.

It was in the future. The scene showed a man, getting bound into handcuffs by a policeman, was glaring at Kogoro. The mustached detective was gloating at his latest victory, when suddenly the murderer broke out of the policeman's grasp and attacked Kogoro with a hidden knife.

The present Kogoro gasped as he saw the future Kogoro fall. The scene faded and then reappeared to show a hospital room.

Ran, Conan, and Eri entered the room. Ran rushed over to Kogoro's bedside, where the doctor also stood. "Will he live, doctor?!" Ran cried. The doctor turned to the family with solemn eyes. "I'm afraid not," he said sadly. He went on to explain how Kogoro's lung and liver were already too unstable, and that the stab wounds had also damaged the heart to an unfixable state. Surgery would not help. The great detective would soon be dead to the world.

Bells began to toll the midnight hour from the church next to the graveyard where Kogoro and the spirit stood. Kogoro was in a state of shock, and had fallen to his knees. The spirit just stood, silently looking at him.

On the third bell toll, the black-clothed spirit started up a dry, brittle laugh. It was long and drawn out, and it chilled Kogoro to the bone.

Kogoro stared at the spirit, and then jumped to his feet. "Tell me this isn't true!" he shouted at the laughing spirit. "How can I change this?!" he yelled. The sprit said nothing.

On the ninth bell toll, the spirit abruptly stopped laughing. He slowly raised his hand until it was pointing at the grave. Then he moved the limb again, this time pointing at Kogoro's heart.

Kogoro moaned. "No."

_Dong_.

"No."

_Dong_.

"No!"

The final toll came. _Dong_.

"No!!!"


	5. End

Kogoro sat, up sweating. He was in his bed, in his pajamas, and he had sleep in his eyes. From the hall came excited squeals, and Kogoro heard Ran say in excitement, "Dad! Wake up! It's Christmas!"

Kogoro looked around him, dazed. Was it all a dream? He felt so confused. Would he really die that horrible death in the future?

The detective climbed out of bed to heed his daughters' calling. As he walked into the agency towards the Christmas tree, pulling on his shirt, Conan ran towards him.

"Hey Uncle, did you have a client last night? 'Cause if you did, he left his hat here." The boy handed him a black hat.

Kogoro's face blanched as he saw that the hat belonged to none other than the Ghost of Christmas to Come. _"So it was true!" _he thought to himself as he let Ran pull him over to the Christmas tree. _"What'll I do?"_

Suddenly Kogoro caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror hanging behind his desk. A saddened, aged man with hopeless eyes stared back at him. _"That can't be me,"_ he thought. _"I don't want to look like that!"_

As he sat in his chair behind his desk, watching Ran and Conan open presents with delight, Kogoro made a decision. _"Kogoro,"_ he told himself, _"no more moping around. You are going to enjoy this life, and do your best in it. Stop drinking, stop smoking, and stop boasting. And maybe, just maybe, you will be given a little while longer on this earth."_ He smiled to himself. _"Merry Christmas, Kogoro."_

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**Well, there you go, a Detective Conan Christmas Carol! **

**This is my first fan fiction, so I was a bit nervous as I was writing. I'm also quite new to this website, so I don't know all the technicalities and stuff, either.**

**I don't consider myself a writer, and I've never written anything except little ditties (and school stuff).**

**So, I'd really appreciate it if you reviewed my story. Compliments, concerns, and constructive criticism are all welcome! Consider it a Christmas present, if you will. **


	6. Epilogue

Kogoro stampeded down the stairs with Conan on his shoulders and Ran in tow.

"Where are we going again, Dad?" the confused teen asked her delighted dad.

"Why, to get ice-cream, of course!" he replied happily. "Four scoops for everyone!"

Conan cheered, but Ran abruptly stopped and looked at her dad as if he had gone crazy. "Um, Dad… hello? It's the middle of winter here! Ice-cream isn't exactly the best Christmas treat, you know?"

"Oh, I suppose you're right…" Kogoro stopped too. Up near his head, Conan stopped cheering and frowned at Ran.

Then suddenly, Kogoro's face lit up, and he smiled a big grin. "I know! Coffee and hot chocolate for everyone at Café Poirot!

This time both kids smiled, and they set off for the café, chatting happily.

The makeshift family sat down at one of the coffee shop's tables with three big mugs of drink in front of them. Suddenly, Conan stopped the other two from taking their first sip. "I just wanted to say one thing, since it _is_ Christmas," he stated solemnly. The boy raised his cup of hot coco in the air, and said, "God bless us, every one!"

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**This epilogue was put here purely for Conan's little part. After all, you can't have a story be A Christmas Carol without some little boy waving a crutch and saying, "God bless us, every one!" right?**

**Only this time it was a cup of coco… oh well. **

**Thanks for reading!**


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